ROAD TO 2026: NUP unveils roadmap for register update, mass registration

Kampala, (UG):– The Opposition National Unity Platform (NUP) leader, Mr Robert Kyagulanyi, alias Bobi Wine has launched the party’s register exercise aiming to update details of its members and register new members ahead of the forthcoming election activity in the country.

The campaign which is sent to run for a full month across the country starting tomorrow, Wednesday, May 1, was officially flagged off at the party headquarters in Makerere Kavule on Monday, April 29, with Kyagulanyi as the first member to update his details in the register book.

Speaking at the launch of the exercise, Mr Kyagulanyi urged NUP registrars tasked with the mandate to remain vigilant against potential interference from both State and party leaders, saying it is routine for government agencies to frustrate the party’s legitimate campaigns.

“You have become official targets of the regime. They will attempt to buy, bribe, and compromise you. But you should know that the regime doesn’t want your support but your credibility, so be very careful because all they want is a picture with you,” Kyagulanyi, who lost in the 2021 presidential elections emphasized to the registrars.

“The regime wants to put a narrative that all of us are buyable, that is why you have seen some of our leaders and former leaders getting trapped in corruption scandals, be careful because you know the party’s way of dealing with corrupt ones,” he added.

NUP’s Secretary General, Mr David Lewis Rubongoya speaking at the same function said the registration campaign is part of the party’s wider arrangements to organise the party structures from the grassroots to the top leadership.

“We have witnessed the overwhelming support out there, but we have a big duty to bring the party support together, well the 2026 elections are ahead, however, we must keep organised such that even if the elections are tomorrow, we are ready for them,” Mr Lewis Lubongoya, the NUP general secretary, said.

In the same vein, Hon Joel Ssenyonyi, the party spokesperson who also doubles as the Leader of Opposition in Parliament challenged registrars to be good ambassadors of the party.

“Let people see you and desire the new Uganda we talk about, let it not be heard that you are among those grabbing people’s land, as leaders it is important that we be disciplined,” he said.

The National Unity Platform (NUP) registration campaign comes barely a month after the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party concluded a similar exercise and registered over 18 million voters in its yellow book.

The figure was however refuted by the Opposition leaders who said the NRM was trying to inflate the figures to justify allegations of election rigging against the party in the previous elections.

The NUP, which is the leading opposition party in the country currently boasts about 59 MPs in parliament, and with the register update exercise, the party aims to strengthen its grassroot structures.